


It is the nature of dreams to end

by acrimsondaisy



Category: The Blank Rune
Genre: Bittersweet, F/M, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Nonbinary Character, Other, Surreal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:14:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29030736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acrimsondaisy/pseuds/acrimsondaisy
Summary: A beautiful sunset in the horizon. Strawberry pie by the lake. It's a perfect, beautiful dream...
Relationships: Jakob Archer/Ash Etherwood, Jakob Archer/Astrid Campbell
Kudos: 3





	It is the nature of dreams to end

“This is a nice spot, I think,” the young woman exclaimed as the three of them broke through the clearing. Jakob blinked, and raised his hands to shield from the sunlight that shone down on the three of them now.

Astrid walked on ahead like she always did, the picnic basket swaying gently with her steps. In the bright daylight, her brown hair looked brighter, almost taking on a slight reddish tint.

“But we still need to spread out a blanket. The grass is wet,” Ash said, following right after. Their steps were careful, almost floating over the soft ground. Their shoulders were tens, alert, ready for danger to strike at any moment. His heart sunk, just a little bit, watching their cautious stride. What kind of life they must've led, to expect harm to strike them at every corner?

Jakob knew he was a hypocrite to think that way. After all, it was he anyone would look to if the task has to point out the pessimist of their group. Still... there was a reason why he didn't wish that upon anyone else.

Ash turned back to him, looking over their shoulder. “Are you coming?”

“Oh... um. Yeah. Of course,” Jakob hadn't realized how long he had stood there, staring. He felt the blood rush to his face and lowered his head to hide the blush. “Coming!”

Astrid had already spread out the blanket, a pastel soft oasis in a sea of green. When she looked up at him, a smile spread over her face, and her brown eyes brightened. Jakob returned the smile, gently at first, but then, marveling at how easily it came to him, almost unconsciously, his smile spreading into a grin.

Astrid patted the empty spot between her and Ash who was looking at him with an unreadable expression, but when Jakob sat down and turned to them again, they were wearing a soft little smile.

“Let's unpack,” they said with more enthusiasm than felt natural for them.

Jakob was about to open his mouth, to question them, but before he could say anything, Ash was already reaching for the basket, opening it up and scrunching up their nose at the contents.

A soft giggle to his side. “Someone's hungry,” there was no small amount of fondness in Astrid's voice as she started to hand out the plates and cutlery. They seemed almost deliberately in synth, their movements perfectly coordinated.

Jakob moved to help, but Ash quickly slapped away his hand.

“You sit back. It's not your turn to do anything more for us.”

He furrowed his brows. “What do you mean? I haven't-”

“I hope you guys like pancakes because I've prepared a whole bunch of them!” Astrid chimed in again, “You can have them with whipped cream, chocolate, and of course, fruits and-”

“Berries...” Ash whispered beside him.

“Yes! Freshly picked, I'll have you know! They're sweet and delicious – just like you!”

“Astrid!”

Jakob wasn't sure if he could trust his own ears even as they were heating up in shock and disbelief. Had she just really said that? His brain could barely process the compliment, let alone attribute it to himself. There were a lot of adjectives he'd describe himself with, but 'sweet' wasn't one of them.

Instead of replying, though, Astrid only offered him a cheeky little grin. Next thing he knew, she was leaning over to plant a small peck to his cheek. Jakob's heart was almost beating out of his chest. By now, his cheeks were almost burning as his mind was trying to work itself around the improbable joy he was feeling. The warmth that was flooding through his body.

How could this be real?

A movement in the corner of his eyes, a brush of skin against his own. Ash had outstretched their arm toward his, and though their body was facing the other direction and their head was turned away from him, the evidence couldn't be denied. It laid there in their fingers, gently brushing against the back of his hand.

A shiver ran up his spine. His fingers quivered, like an arrow about to be released from a bowstring. A fateful moment before courage seized him and he took Ash's hand into his own, both of them blushing now.

An intake of breath. The soft brush of hair against his shoulder, as Astrid scooted towards them and buried her head in the nape of his neck. Jakob closed his eyes, breathing them in.

“Let's stay like this.”

It was barely more than a whisper. In a surprising turn of events, it was Ash who said these words. Their voice sounded wistful, almost dreamlike. Perhaps even filled with hope.

Jakob opened his eyes and looked up. The sky was painted in shades of orange and red. A beautiful sunset, slowly moving toward the open field on the horizon.

Wasn't there supposed to be a forest there?

“But we can't,” it was his own voice that broke the spell, rough, deep, and regretful. He hadn't meant to crush their visions. It was a simple truth that he guarded deep within his bones.

This was a beautiful dream. The best one he ever had.

“What do you mean?” Astrid asked, “We just got here.”

“Yeah, but... eventually it will be night again. We'll sit here in the cold, we'll back our bags, and we'll go our separate ways,” he said, “That's just the way it goes.”

“It doesn't have to.”

All heads turned to Ash. They hadn't moved away, only gripped his fingers even more tightly in their small hands.

“This moment doesn't have to end if we won't let it. We can keep it here. There's strawberry pie in our basket, and lemonade, and chocolate cream,” the words were muted, pressed out between gritted teeth, “It's our story. We can choose its direction.”

“Ash is right,” Astrid chimed in, “We're here now. We're together. That's the most important thing.”

“I-” the words died in his throat and he swallowed them down as soon as he realized what he had been about to say. There was something deeply wrong here. This wasn't right.

But _fuck_ , did he want it to be.

“It's settled, then!” Astrid declared, “Come on, let's eat. Ash, hand me that pie. Let's dig in!”

Jakob moved to help, but when he did, the slices had already been cut, though there wasn't a knife anywhere to be seen.

Astrid, however, didn't seem bothered by that as she happily chittered on, handing him his plate. “There you go. Strawberry filling. I made the jam myself.”

“Thank you.”

Maybe this could be okay. Maybe he could just sit here with the two of them and lose himself to the sweetness of pie and good company. Maybe, if only just for a moment.

The sun had set by now. Jakob could see the stars reflect in the shining polish of his fork. They looked painfully familiar.

He closed his eyes, trying to banish the memories that besieged his mind. The battering gram of truth hammering against the glittering gates of this dream.

He brought down his fork, sliding into the voice under the watchful eye of the full moon above them. No matter what he would welcome this one thing.

How much he longed for strawberries.

But they tasted almost foreign on his tongue.

“This filling is... it's made from blueberries.”

As soon as he said the words, they became an undeniable certainty. Soft and round and just a little sour.

“No!”

The sound startled him out of his thoughts. Had he ever heard Ash raised their voice like that? There was a memory at the edge of his mind, just out of reach...

“Ash...”

“No, Jakob,” only now did they let go of his hand. “Don't do this, Jakob. Please. I... I don't want this.”

“I know.”

“I want you to stay.”

He smiled. “Me too.”

There was a pause, then. “You don't have to go through with it...” they said, “This can be strawberry pie if you want it to. You can sit here with Astrid and I... I can hold your hand.”

“Astrid isn't here. Not really.”

It was true. She wasn't there at all.

She never had been.

Ash looked down. “I- I...”

“Hey,” Jakob leaned down and put his hand under their chin, guiding their head so he could look them in the eye, “It's okay.”

It was getting darker around them, the blackness eating up more and more of their surroundings. This illusion slowly breaking down.

“Thank you, Ash,” he smiled down at them, “You made this so beautiful for me.”

“I won't forget you.”

His thumbs ran down the side of their jaw. “I know.”

He closed his eyes.

Opened them again.

The cold imprint of a hand, weighing on his back.

The rope scraping against his neck.

A crack –

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fanfiction for The Blank Rune (https://www.fanfiktion.de/s/5aa6ab4500029f4925c9cfc3/1/The-Blank-Rune) which is a German story that takes inspiration from the Hunger Games. The author of the original work is Herania here on AO3 and I highly encourage you to look up their work here as well, if you're into obscure Russian video games. I plan to translate the original fic eventually, but if you speak German and this intrigued you... Please read it <3)


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